Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

The second person summoned by the King of Qi to report on his work was Wang Fangde.

Li You had only known Wang Fangde for two months and didn't know the old gentleman very well.

After a detailed conversation, I learned that Wang Fangde's family actually had some connection with the Wang family of Taiyuan.

Over the course of thousands of years of development, these prominent families have always produced numerous branch families.

Some of the less successful side branches will gradually be "cleared out" and become ordinary households.

Take Jia Yucun in "Dream of the Red Chamber" for example; his family and the Jia family had a similar relationship.

Wang Fangde's ancestors originally lived in Taiyuan Prefecture, but were later forced to move out and settle in the Hebei area.

Even so, by the time Wang Fangde was young, the family was still able to support their children's education and calligraphy.

Although Wang Fangde failed to become an official, he still managed to make some "powerful" friends as he grew up, thanks to his talent and learning, such as Yin Hongzhi.

Wang Fangde has three sons and one daughter, all of whom are adults and currently live in Luoyang.

He emphasized his second son, Wang Xian, to Li You, saying that the boy was quite capable and could serve the Prince of Qi.

"Alright, our army is short of talent. If Brother Wang Xian is willing to work here, I will definitely give him an important position."

"Very well, I will write to him now."

After carefully observing the King of Qi's behavior, the old master believed that this man was capable of great things, which is why he was willing to send his two sons to help.

"Mr. Wang, you're from Hebei. What social conflicts exist in Hebei?"

Seeing that the old man was somewhat puzzled, Li You explained it to him, and also told him about his conversation with Dou Jun the day before.

"Oh, I see. Hebei is not like Jiangnan; when it comes to 'social contradictions,' it has quite a few."

"The first issue is the conflict between the Hu people and our Han people."

"A Hu person?"

"Indeed, the land of Hebei has been inhabited by both Han and non-Han peoples for more than 500 years, since the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although there has been some integration, there are still many conflicts between the two sides due to their different customs."

"The martial and warlike spirit of the Hu people also had an impact on Hebei. Therefore, the people of Hebei have always been somewhat estranged from the orthodox Central Plains."

Li You laughed and said, "Isn't this a good thing? What else?"

"Secondly, there is the conflict between the scholars of Hebei and the Li Tang court. My lord, will you be displeased if I mention the name Li Tang?" Wang Fangde realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly tried to make amends.

"Since the beginning of the rebellion, I have had no connection with the Li Tang dynasty. Please speak freely, Mr. Wang."

"Yes, good. When the Tang dynasty took over the country, it engaged in excessive killing in the Hebei region, which led the local people to follow General Liu, surrendering and then rebelling several times. Even now, there are still people in the countryside who worship General Liu."

General Liu was Liu Heita. Wang Fangde himself was from Hebei and respected him, so he did not call him by his name directly.

"After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Hebei was kept at arm's length, and very few scholars from Hebei became officials. Now, almost all the officials in Hebei's prefectures are from Guanzhong. If this continues, the scholars of Hebei will have many grievances against the court."

"Oh, so that means the powerful families of Hebei are not favored by the imperial court either?"

"What you say is true, my lord. Take the Cui family of Boling as an example. Although they are the most powerful family in the land, in the past twenty years, only Cui Renshi has served in Chang'an. As for the other powerful families, needless to say."

"Is the relatively small number of Hebei Zhechong Prefectures related to these matters?"

"That's right. The people have grievances against the court. Even though the Zhechong Prefecture is short of people, they are unwilling to serve as soldiers there."

Li You rubbed his hands excitedly: "Mr. Wang, according to your calculations, how many soldiers can Huang Chao's army recruit in Hebei?"

"General Liu once commanded 50,000 soldiers, 20,000 of whom were elite troops. Over the past twenty years, the population of Hebei has recovered somewhat. If we have sufficient food and supplies, recruiting 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, including 30,000 elite troops, would not be difficult. The problem is, where should we hide these soldiers so that they are not discovered by the authorities?"

Li You nodded: "What you say is absolutely right. Let's recruit 10,000 men this year. We'll think about where to hide the troops later."

"That's excellent."

"Besides the two issues mentioned above, are there any other contradictions?"

"Other... Our lord came to Boling to steal and print books, intending to break the monopoly of aristocratic families on books. Therefore, there is also conflict between the poor and the aristocratic. However, this kind of thing happens everywhere, and it seems to be limited to Hebei."

"What about the land issue? Among the tenant farmers on this estate, there are also landless poor people. Yesterday, when I discussed this with Dou Jun, he also mentioned that Hebei is a 'narrowly populated area,' with little land and a large population. Could we make some progress in this area?"

Wang Fangde pondered for a moment, then said, "My lord, what Dou Jun said seems somewhat incorrect. In my opinion, Hebei cannot be considered a small region; Guanzhong and Shandong are the real ones. Hebei has been plagued by frequent wars, and its population is far smaller than that of Guanzhong and Shandong. Although there are powerful families that have seized land, there is still enough land left for the common people to cultivate."

"Not many people? Isn't the population around Boling City quite large?"

"My lord, this is only Boling, and it is also because the Cui family is nearby. You haven't seen other places. The population of Weizhou, Xiangzhou, Jizhou, and Cangzhou is less than one-fifth of what it was during the Daye era of the Sui Dynasty."

Upon hearing this data, Li You was stunned.

One-fifth, only one-fifth.

It seems that the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty did indeed wipe out a large number of people (the population of Hebei was 718 million during the Daye era of the Sui Dynasty. In the thirteenth year of the Zhenguan era, the population of Hebei was 159 million, the former being 4.5 times the latter).

Li You recorded the situation in the four prefectures of Wei, Xiang, Cang, and Ji, and then fell into deep thought.

Seeing the King of Qi's appearance, Wang Fangde did not disturb him.

After a long silence, Li You said, "Mr. Wang, didn't you say that the troops we recruited have nowhere to hide? The four provinces of Wei, Cang, and Ji are sparsely populated; could they be used to hide our troops?"

Wang Fangde was taken aback upon hearing this, then clapped his hands and laughed, "My lord is truly quick-witted! How could I not have thought of that?"

Therefore, everything has two sides, and we should be good at discovering the opportunities hidden in disadvantages.

The number of troops under Li You's command was still too small compared to the 600,000-strong government army of the Tang Dynasty, and it urgently needed to be expanded.

"Mr. Wang, you will be in charge of recruiting soldiers. If Brother Wang Xianda is willing to join my Huang Chao army, let him work for you first. Also, the name of the Bozhou army should be changed; from now on, it will be called the Huang Chao army."

"Alright, as long as there is sufficient money and provisions, the recruitment of the Hebei New Army can begin."

"Yes, you shall report the amount of military supplies to me at any time. There is another matter: can the crossbows brought down from the army be replicated?"

"Well... copper, iron, and wood are relatively easy to obtain, but beef tendon is quite rare."

"Then let's buy cattle. I'll have the assassins investigate thoroughly later to see where we can buy cattle."

"Many temples in Hebei have cattle-raising facilities, and there are also many Hu people from the border areas who sell cattle and horses."

"Hmm, if cow tendons can be used to make crossbows, can horse tendons also be used to make crossbows?"

"This...it seems like no one has tried it before..."

"They're both mammals, so they should be able to do it... Which is more expensive, a cow or a horse?"

"As far as I know, the price of an official horse is 25 strings of cash, the price of an ox is 15 strings of cash, and the price of a horse is even more expensive."

"Okay, it seems buying a cow is more cost-effective. As for similar animals... how much does a donkey cost?"

"This... I really don't know, but it shouldn't exceed the size of a cow."

"Hmm... what about the sheep?"

"Sheep are the cheapest, a sheep only costs about two or three strings of cash."

"Alright, let our craftsmen try it out and see if the tendons of sheep and donkeys can be used as bowstrings for crossbows."